What makes you excited about the game?

[RPGmasterBoo]

Okay this might seem like an obnoxious filler topic but I think since AP is a genuinely different hybrid genre game there are an actual number of different reasons to be excited about it.

 

First of all its a action/stealth/RPG game which are really three different crowds of gamers and I wonder what most of you are going to play the game for: the action, the stealth gameplay, the RPG choices, the modern day setting (almost non existent in RPGs), the apparently colorful and interesting characters or something else?

 

For me its above all the dialog system, I want to see how far forward and how much it will affect the outcome of the game. Also I really want to find out how many substiantially different playthroughs are possible and whether the C&C system really works.

[Pop]

I'm interested in the narrative. Every Obsidz game (Storm of Zehir being an exception) has had an interesting and surprising storyline. With all the deception that goes on in an espionage setting, they've certainly got my attention.

 

One thing I'm concerned about is Obsidz' tendency (going all the way back to the Black Isle days with Fallout 2) to telegraph the stories in its games, or at least the villains, to an extent. I hope that it's not the case here.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Pop

[Syraxis]

I'm interested in the narrative. Every Obsidz game (Storm of Zehir being an exception) has had an interesting and surprising storyline.

 

The same for me, more or less.

[Starwars]

There are actually quite a few things that I'm looking forward to in the game, as well as quite a few things that I don't particularly like.

 

I'm still a bit worried that the game will feel overtly easy on the player (can get away with anything) since they don't want to punish any playstyle, but I'm definetely interested in the replayability. Different choices leading to different things is *always* considered a plus in my book.

 

And while I actually would've wanted to see a more realistic take on things (apparantly they felt that was too uninteresting), I'm looking forward to seeing the characters in the game. They look like a lot of fun to interact with. Will be interesting to see the plot too since they've actually not revealed much about it at all.

 

Finally, I'm glad to see that even though it's an action-RPG, they seem to layer the gameplay aspect a bit with stealth and gadgets. My main complaint with most action-RPGs is that the combat sections feels incredibly repetetive after a short while, and I hope OEI has provided enough choice and variations in the "action-y" parts of missions to make it feel dynamic enough.

[Morgoth]

The modern-day setting, bound with the cool and humorous characters, and of course the excellent writing quality from Chris Avellone.

I mean everything he touches turns into gold.

[Bos_hybrid]

I'll be honest here, the recent previews and confirmation of certain aspect of this game has definitely lessened my interest for this game. But I have to also point out, I'm not one to get 'hyped' for a game, I tend to look at dev posts and news from the dev/publisher about a game with scepticism, so chances are I was never as excited for this game as many other Obs posters.

 

But to quote some things that troubled me:

 

Surely the final game won't simply transfer the player from safehouse to mission and back again... surely that was merely an unexplained demo condition designed to save time? Regardless, it was safehouse-to-segue-to-mission. Done. Exterior gameplay was necessary, and its no-show was a distinct disappointment.

 

Now I'm pretty sure it's be designed this way from the begining, and I just haven't realized it, but that does lessen my interest in AP. And it's not just that, other little red flags keep poping up:

 

Furthermore, as an aesthetic aside, characters were visually lacking in, well... emotion and character, and dialogue animation was particularly undercooked.

 

The missions are less spectacular than the setup. Most are fairly linear and while the objectives may change, the approach seems the same. Sneak your way across an area to get to the target. Or you can run and gun. Or, more likely, you can try stealth until you're spotted, then kill folks.

 

The AI is pretty simple-minded and it's not always clear when you are fully in cover. But the troublesome aspect is that the game is incredibly buggy. Normally I'd give the benefit of the doubt to preview code such as this, but I feel I have to give it mention due to Obsidian's development history. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights II are both games with some great ideas, but also tons of bugs. Seeing so many glitches in Alpha Protocol makes me more than a little nervous. Hopefully the next build I play has many of these issues ironed out.

 

See while the rest of you cry 'not paid peviews', I see comments about aspects of this game that I myself have been worried about, from when I first heard about this game. Now I'm not saying I won't get this game, they aren't playing the final build, the bugs might be gone and I might enjoy the missions even if they don't. My point is that these recent previews have given me pause and raised my eyebrow.

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

Well, first of all, I will probably buy every game Obsidian makes because I've liked all of them so far. A lot of that has to do with story and being able to influence it.

 

Second, the modern-day setting, I think this is quite underused and will be a somewhat fresh experience.

 

Third, I'm pretty big fan of cover shooters and stealth games. Combining those mechanics with WRPG character creation seems like an interesting exercise if nothing else.

[mkreku]

An RPG without magic. About ****ing time.

[RPGmasterBoo]

@Bos:

I noticed all of that as well but none of it has any significant impact on my expectations, because in essence it might be a role playing game in dialog and character advancement but in others its a standard mission based stealth/shooter. The non linearity as I see it comes from being able to choose to play the three hubs in any order and all the missions in the hubs in any order, which supposedly makes up for a different story each time. How they pull this off is another matter.

 

Characters facial animations are obviously stiff even in the movies, but the voice acting should make up for that. Facial animation done well is the pink elephant of the games industry, everyone says they've seen it but no one can point an example out. (okay to be fair a game comes along every so often that does it well, but most fail).

On that topic Dragons Age and Risen look just as bad, and one can only criticize AP if you criticize them all.

 

The bugs arent really explained, it could be anything from a random clipping to a crash the way he describes it.

Edited August 31, 2009 by RPGmasterBoo

[AlphaPro]

An RPG without magic. About ****ing time.

 

complete agree. +1. I hate dungeon crawlers.

[Bos_hybrid]

The non linearity as I see it comes from being able to choose to play the three hubs in any order and all the missions in the hubs in any order, which supposedly makes up for a different story each time. How they pull this off is another matter.

 

See when they said hubs, I assumed VTM:B hubs(yes I know assumptions = bad), to learn that all the hub is, is basically where the missions and story take place with loading screens between safehouse and mission caught me off guard. It might not bother me, as it stands, I'm not sold on it.

 

On that topic Dragons Age and Risen look just as bad, and one can only criticize AP if you criticize them all.

 

Can't speak for Risen haven't seen much of it, but yes DA:O aren't good at all. But what does that have to do with it?

 

The bugs arent really explained, it could be anything from a random clipping to a crash the way he describes it.

 

Bugs are bugs, I don't like them.

 

Now in two months time I could look back at these posts and think what the hell was I on? Because it's still on my buy list, but currently, have less expectations for this game.

 

I noticed all of that as well but none of it has any significant impact on my expectations

 

If you thought I was trying to convince you or others that you should think the way I do, I'm not. I was just explaining why I think that way.

[RPGmasterBoo]

See when they said hubs, I assumed VTM:B hubs(yes I know assumptions = bad), to learn that all the hub is, is basically where the missions and story take place with loading screens between safehouse and mission caught me off guard. It might not bother me, as it stands, I'm not sold on it.

 

I was surprised as well and not exactly thrilled, but the proof is in eating the pudding. Games that have done this have ranged from fantastic (Thief, plus it doesnt even have a real central hub) to horrible (Assasins Creed). But, honestly, I didn't like it either mainly because it was removed from my usual RPG expectations - same as you were.

 

Can't speak for Risen haven't seen much of it, but yes DA:O aren't good at all. But what does that have to do with it?

 

It just shows contemporary games are being just as bad, nothing more - it was directed more at the article which places unrealistic expectations on a very resource intensive genre. If AP had as much dialog as the usual action/spy game, there would have been a pile of cash for fancier graphics.

 

If you thought I was trying to convince you or others that you should think the way I do, I'm not. I was just explaining why I think that way.

 

No I was just commenting. I noticed all the points raised in that article and while most are genuine some are misplaced, like the facial animation thing.

 

It just bugs me that everyone in the PC gaming press world says Dragons Age (for example) looks great and yet are so quick to point out flaws in Alpha Protocol. Now pointing out flaws is a good thing, and that is their job, but neglecting to mention just as obvious flaws in other cases is really really cheap.

[Bos_hybrid]

It just bugs me that everyone in the PC gaming press world says Dragons Age (for example) looks great and yet are so quick to point out flaws in Alpha Protocol. Now pointing out flaws is a good thing, and that is their job, but neglecting to mention just as obvious flaws in other cases is really really cheap.

 

Well for starters it could be a different journalist, one might not care about facial animation the other might. Secondly, AP is never really going to be compared with DA:O, when it comes down to it, the difference between them is like night and day. (You can't say with a straight face the DA:O graphics are up to AP standards) The games AP will be compared with are other TPS rpgs. Now the only other game like that currently on the market is ME, so that is what AP is being compared to.

[AlphaPro]

It just bugs me that everyone in the PC gaming press world says Dragons Age (for example) looks great and yet are so quick to point out flaws in Alpha Protocol. Now pointing out flaws is a good thing, and that is their job, but neglecting to mention just as obvious flaws in other cases is really really cheap.

 

Well for starters it could be a different journalist, one might not care about facial animation the other might. Secondly, AP is never really going to be compared with DA:O, when it comes down to it, the difference between them is like night and day. (You can't say with a straight face the DA:O graphics are up to AP standards) The games AP will be compared with are other TPS rpgs. Now the only other game like that currently on the market is ME, so that is what AP is being compared to.

 

dont forget Fallout 3

[Humodour]

I'm not excited about Alpha Protocol.

 

The dialogue system sounds annoying and restrictive and the fact that you 'level up' in a first/third person shooter (rather than simply gain skill points as in Bloodlines, Deus Ex, or System shock 2) sounds ludicrous. Finally, the segmentation of genuine role playing vs combat based on dev descriptions is not encouraging, nor is the claim one of them (Sawyer?) made that most role-playing is done through conversation. The stealth system in the game also sounds severely gimped.

 

But I'll buy and hopefully enjoy the game on some level. Maybe it'll surprise me and I'll like it as much as one of the aforementoned games, but I'm not holding my breath.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Krezack

[Purkake]

I'm not excited either, but I'm not really excited for any game coming this fall.

 

Diablo III needs to come faster.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

It's an Obsidian game. Until they make a bad one or one that I'm not at all interested in I will most likely buy their games without too much forthought.

[Slowtrain]

misogyny

[mingoran]

I don't care how it looks. I care how it plays and how it is balanced. I know many features that look pretty and popular but in the end it plays very badly.

[RPGmasterBoo]

I'm not excited either, but I'm not really excited for any game coming this fall.

 

Diablo III needs to come faster.

 

Youre excited about Diablo III?

[Purkake]

Youre excited about Diablo III?

Yes I am.

 

I'm also excited about HL2: Episode 3, because there's a good chance that they will be super special awesome.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Purkake

[RPGmasterBoo]

Youre excited about Diablo III?

Yes I am.

 

I'm also excited about HL2: Episode 3, because there's a good chance that they will be super special awesome.

 

And out of curiosity, what are you going to do in Diablo III that you havent done a million times before?

[Purkake]

Play an awesome fun game that will work without problems and be generally fun?

 

I've done that before as well, but the having fun part never seems to get old. Weird...

 

So basically guaranteed fun > potential fun. At least on the hype-o-meter.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Purkake

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

The only thing anybody could possibly infer from that incredibly vague statement is that you prefer bug-free games.

[Purkake]

I prefer to be excited for game that I know will turn up good.

 

I've been burned far too many times.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Purkake